Convenience wall outlet



1933- J. J. STEINHARTER m- AL 1,937,922

CONVENIENCE WALL OUTLET Filed April 13, 1931 :3 "T b 11 12 i 11 51 I 3: u 1I 12b H 11c L 14 13 Jim 11 15 mvENToRs BY THEIR'ATTORNEY WWW Patented Dec. 5, 1933 UNITEDSTATES 1,937,922 CONVENIENCE WALL OUTLET Joseph J. Steinharter and Jacob J. Grossman,

Brooklyn, NJY.

Application April 13, 1931. Serial No. 529,704

1. Claim.

This invention relates to electrical plug receptacles and particularly. to. that type thereof which is known as wall outlets. Generally outlets of this type are mounted in an outlet box built into the wall or base board ofa room, whereby their location is permanently fixed. The present invention however relates to a convenience outlet which can be easily and conveniently attached at any suitable place of a wall or base board and which may be fed by means of a duplex wire or flexible cord from a fixed receptacle to which it is connected, by a detachable connection plug, preferably strung along the wall surface and to which a plurality of convenience outlets may be connected in a row. a

It is the object of the present invention to provide a convenience wall outlet of extremely simple construction and which embodies only a very small number of parts.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an electric outlet of this type which may be securely fastened to the wall, particularly against rotary movement as hereinafter more fully explained.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear more clearly as the description progresses the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and details of construction hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing which forms a material part of this disclosure Fig. 1 is a plan showing the face venience outlet.

Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. 1 on line 2--2 of that figure. 1

Fig. 3 is a section of Fig. 1 on line 3-3 of that figure.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an outside elevation of the conven ience outlet.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation showing the convenience outlet partly in section on line 6-6 of Fig. 1 and assembled with a connection plug.

Referring to the drawing, 11 represents a receptacle of insulating material which has a hollow cylindrical interior chamber 11a surrounded by an upwardly tapering outside wall 11b in its upper part and a lower portion 110 of enlarged diameter provided with a cylindrical outer surface having diametrically opposite conductor entrances 11m therethrough. The top of the receptacle consists of the plate portion 11d and diametrically through the hollow part 11a inof my con-.

tegral with 1111 extends a rectangular connecting bar forming a cross wall lle perpendicular to entrance openings 11m. This wall is provided with an axial aperture 111 and two rectangular recesses 11g. Rectangular apertures 11h, narrower than these recesses form passages from 119 through plate portion 11d, so that the outer part of 11g is partly covered by that plate portion. The top face of receptacle 11 is provided with a shallow circular recess 111' and a deeper central, partly elliptical recess 1170 encompassing the outer edges of apertures 11h.

The lower annular face of receptacle 11 is provided with small radial teeth 11n preferably of the form of saw teeth which are sharp in clock-wise direction relative to a surface to which the receptacle may be fastened.

The two recesses 11g accommodate contact springs 12 which have a horizontal portion 12a and a vertical wire retaining lip 12b. The parts 12a are held against the lower face of wall He by means of screws 13 which occupy threaded apertures of bar 11c and hold the conductors'14 under their heads, and the contact springs 12 in recess 11g.

In central aperture 11f a long wood screw 15 is accommodated which extends far below the toothed lower face 1112. Screw 15 has itsrpreferably countersunk head 15a Within a recess in the top face 11k and is secured against longitudinal movement in 11] by means of a short piece of tubing 16 preferably made of rubber which engages the threads of screw 15 like a nut but can easily be stripped on and off the screw. Two conductors 14 pass through each entrance opening 11m into the receptacle 11 and are diverted thereintowards the screws 13 by which they are each held in contact with one of the contact springs 12.

'tion Within 110 is unobstructed, to facilitate the wiring, particularly when the screw is temporarily removed, by stripping the tube 16 off therefrom, which requires much less time than the removal of a nut, nevertheless as long as the tube is in place, the screw 15 is easily rotatable in the receptacle so that both cannot turn together. The conductors 14 are each securely fastened to springs 12 and the latter to the body of the receptacle by a single fastening screw.

When the screw 15 has entered into a surface so far that teeth lln touch that surface, the receptacleremains stationary as these teeth engage that surface and the screw presses them tight against it, which prevents rotation of the receptacle on its axis and also prevents twisting of the conductors around the outside 110 of the receptacle which is a serious defect of similar devices. An additional advantage derived from this construction is that it is possible to arrange the entrance apertures 11h exactly in horizontal or vertical alignment as desired, which is not possible when the receptacle can be turned by the screw during the tightening operation.

- While we have thus described a preferred form of our invention it shall be understood that modifications may be made in the design and arrangements of parts, or in the construction of details which come within the scope and spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

An electrical outlet comprising an integral body of insulating material, a face portion formed with concentrically arranged recesses, one of said recesses being deeper than the other, said body portion being formed with a chambered portion opening on the end of the body opposite the face portion, said body portion being further provided with aligned openings at its chambered end, communicating with said chambered portion for the reception of conductor wires, a transverse wall portion extending inwardly to said chamber to a point substantially level with said aligned openings, said Wall being formed with openings adjacent each end thereof and etxending through said wall and communicating with said recesses and said chamber, said wall also being formed with a central opening, a contact spring in each end opening in said wall, each of said springs being formed with an angle portion adapted to engage the end of the wall and with a lip portion adapted to retain a conductor wire and a fastening screw mounted in the central opening in said Wall, the chambered end of the body being formed with a saw tooth edge for preventing turning of said body portion when the outlet is being mounted on its support.

JOSEPH J. .STEINHARTER. JACOB J. GROSSMAN. 

